Legal RideGuru
from Chicago

Jared Hoffa is Business Development Manager for LegalRideshare. LegalRideshare, LLC is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, Divvy® and taxicab accidents and injuries. Dedicating 100% of their resources to protecting injured drivers, passengers and victims.

You have a passenger in your car. A few minutes later you're sitting at a stop light and BOOM, you get rear-ended and the passenger gets thrown forward. A few seconds later, he holds his neck and screams, “Look what you did! You’re going to pay for this!”

So, the question becomes, what’s the personal liability here? Is there really any chance this guy can go after their Uber/Lyft driver?

Short answer: Very unlikely. Since you’re online with Uber/Lyft, they have a $1M deductible, and with your own insurance the chances of them needing more than $1M+ are slim to none. Regardless of your fault or not. In this case, the at-fault driver’s insurance is “primary.” That means his insurance company will have to pay first for any claims made in relation to the crash.

Let’s switch up the facts. Let's say you (the Uber/Lyft driver) caused the crash and rear-ended another driver. The passenger is hurt and threatens to sue.

In actuality, not much changes. Because the Uber/Lyft driver is the at-fault driver, their insurance is “primary.” They're still in period three, meaning Uber/Lyft’s company takes over. That insurance will cover damages up to its limits (again, $1 million). As such, there’s plenty of coverage and they need not worry about their assets in most scenarios.

The bottom line: After a crash, stay calm, call the police to investigate and report the incident to Uber/Lyft. LegalRideshare deals with these incidents everyday, so don't hesitate to call.

You have a passenger in your car. A few minutes later you're sitting at a stop light and BOOM, you get rear-ended and the passenger gets thrown forward. A few seconds later, he holds his neck and screams, “Look what you did! You’re going to pay for this!”

So, the question becomes, what’s the personal liability here? Is there really any chance this guy can go after their Uber/Lyft driver?

Short answer: Very unlikely. Since you’re online with Uber/Lyft, they have a $1M deductible, and with your own insurance the chances of them needing more than $1M+ are slim to none. Regardless of your fault or not. In this case, the at-fault driver’s insurance is “primary.” That means his insurance company will have to pay first for any claims made in relation to the crash.

Let’s switch up the facts. Let's say you (the Uber/Lyft driver) caused the crash and rear-ended another driver. The passenger is hurt and threatens to sue.

In actuality, not much changes. Because the Uber/Lyft driver is the at-fault driver, their insurance is “primary.” They're still in period three, meaning Uber/Lyft’s company takes over. That insurance will cover damages up to its limits (again, $1 million). As such, there’s plenty of coverage and they need not worry about their assets in most scenarios.

The bottom line: After a crash, stay calm, call the police to investigate and report the incident to Uber/Lyft. LegalRideshare deals with these incidents everyday, so don't hesitate to call.

I spent many years working for a company that studied law suits. Any time there was a case involving Uber/Lyft the plaintiff always had separate suits filed. One against your insurance, one against the ride share’s insurance, and one against the other vehicle’s insurance. Sounds like they have to prove some serious damages to exceed that $1m primary.

Probably more likely for a wrongful death case like the recent Chicago case. Can’t put a price on a beautiful young human life.

I am sure this varies by state, but taking the case where it's the rideshare driver's fault, is there any difference in how this affects their personal insurance as opposed to an accident off the job? Would you expect premiums to rise as a result, even though their insurance didn't have to pay? Points on license, etc?